Combustors are commonly used in industrial and power generation operations to ignite fuel to produce combustion gases having a high temperature and pressure. For example, turbo-machines such as gas turbines typically include one or more combustors to generate power or thrust. A typical gas turbine includes an inlet section, a compressor section, a combustion section, a turbine section, and an exhaust section. The inlet section cleans and conditions a working fluid (e.g., air) and supplies the working fluid to the compressor section. The compressor section increases the pressure of the working fluid and supplies a compressed working fluid to the combustion section. The compressed working fluid and a fuel are mixed within the combustion section and burned to generate combustion gases having a high temperature and pressure. The combustion gases flow to the turbine section where they expand to produce work. For example, expansion of the combustion gases in the turbine section may rotate a shaft connected to a generator to produce electricity.
The combustion section generally includes at least one combustor. A typical combustor includes an end cover coupled to a compressor discharge casing, an annular cap assembly that extends radially and axially within the compressor discharge casing, an annular liner that extends downstream from the cap assembly, and a transition piece that extends between the liner and a first stage of stationary nozzles that are positioned generally adjacent to an inlet to the turbine section.
In a common mounting scheme, a forward end of the liner circumferentially surrounds an aft end portion of the cap assembly. A spring seal or hula seal extends circumferentially around the aft end portion of the cap assembly and radially between the cap assembly and the forward end of the liner to provide a seal therebetween and/or to provide mounting support to the forward end of the liner. A forward end of the transition piece circumferentially surrounds an aft end of the liner. A spring seal or hula seal extends circumferentially around the aft end of the liner and radially between the liner and the forward end of the transition piece to provide a seal therebetween and/or to provide mounting support to the aft end of the liner. An aft frame portion of the transition piece is coupled to a turbine casing. In addition or in the alternative, a mounting bracket is or may be used to couple a bottom portion of the transition piece to the compressor discharge casing. In this mounting scheme, the transition piece is utilized to constrain the liner within the combustor. Although this mounting scheme is generally effective, it is not practical for newer and more compact gas turbine designs.
In continued efforts to decrease the overall size or footprint of gas turbines, the outer circumference of the compressor discharge casing for certain gas turbines has been decreased. As a result, access to the combustor, particularly the bottom portion of the transition piece and or the liner during installation and removal of the combustor has been restricted. In addition, in an effort to decrease the number of individual components within the combustor of the gas turbine, the transition piece and the combustion liner of certain gas turbine combustors have been combined into a single liner component that is at least partially surrounded by one or more flow sleeves and/or impingement sleeves. As a result, the existing mounting schemes are generally ineffective and/or impractical for mounting the newer combustor types within the smaller compressor discharge casing. Therefore, an improved combustor support assembly for mounting a combustion module of a gas turbine would be useful.